Lessons in Violence

2008/04/18

A WHILE ago I was invited to a Children’s Day celebration at a local primary school. Since I’m all for spreading the idea that children should be nurtured and valued, I accepted with pleasure.

The school had made a huge effort to celebrate the day, despite having very few resources. The teachers had made posters; mothers were cooking up a storm in a make- shift kitchen; a blue-and-white tent housed the honoured guests; plates piled high with sweets dotted the elegant guest-of-honour table. An exhaustive programme had been planned, a Master of Ceremonies appointed, speeches rehearsed, and gaggles of cute children trained to entertain us.

After making such an effort, it’s a pity they missed the point of Children’s Day.

The children were almost entirely excluded from the celebrations. The posters, the tent, the flowers, the speeches, the whole day had been designed for the adults. The only children who were allowed into the inner sanctum were those who performed for us. The rest, gawking at the spectacle, were kept at least 10 metres out of the way.

Wait, the story gets worse. They were kept out of our way – by violence.

Every now and then the throng of excluded children – they were no more than seven or eight years old – were overcome by childish curiosity to see what was happening. They squeezed forward, eager to hear and see. And every time they pressed too close, a teacher would sweep round the circle of little legs, whacking at them with a stick until they backed away.

The appalling thing about this incident was that it was tolerated, by the children as well as the adults, as ordinary and acceptable. Even the principal seemed unaware of the irony of the abuse taking place just a few metres away while he listened to grand speeches about children’s rights.

Unfortunately this was not an isolated incident. Corporal punishment is still doled out regularly in schools around the province, along with pinching and insults.

Apart from it being entirely illegal in terms of the Constitution and the law, the question that begs answering is what on earth are we teaching our children? That it’s okay for the strong to control the weak with violence? That it’s fine to resolve problems by hurting others?

South Africa has come a long way since the bad old days when the state used violence to control us.

Then corporal punishment was not only an acceptable feature of schools, but of the justice system. It’s no surprise that judicial corporal punishment increased steeply when the National Party came to power. Over 2500 people were punished by whipping in 1947, which is nothing compared to the 18500-plus 10 years later, or the over 17000 whipped between 1960 and 1961. Many of those punished were protesting against apartheid.

Thanks to the efforts of those who would not accept the state’s attempts at violent control, we now have a Constitution based on social justice, democracy and fundamental human rights. Our Constitutional Court ruled that corporal punishment not only violates the dignity of the punished, but also the person who administers the punishment. The Schools Act makes corporal punishment in schools illegal. Excellent.

Don’t get me wrong, children need firm discipline – especially in a society where crime and violence are endemic.

But it starts with the behaviour of adults. The recent Human Rights Commission report found that the crime, bullying and violence in schools is a reflection of wider society. Children learn their behaviour from their elders.

The little children at the Children’s Day celebration were learning about a culture of violence. Their elders were teaching them that you don’t have to respect others, particularly the weak or vulnerable. They learned that problems are not solved by thoughtful planning, creative thinking and negotiation, but by laying into you with a stick.

Teaching discipline is far more difficult, and far more effective in the long run than a quick smack. It takes a life-long, thoughtful commitment on the part of both adult and child. It means creative thinking about how to involve children in their own moral development. It involves adults actively showing children what acceptable behaviour is. It means not using violence. Ever.